Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) (16 page)

After making it to the station, I would find a place to hide until I felt confident enough that Collin wasn’t following me. Then, I would somehow sneak back to Jackie’s, get my belongings, and disappear. My mind was racing on where I would go, but I drew nothing except blanks. The only thing I was sure of was that I couldn’t go back to Marblehead or anywhere else that held people I loved near it.

As I ran through the station, my eyes darted around, looking for a spot to hide. About twenty or so yards ahead, a bathroom sign caught my eye. With one quick look, I could see that Collin was nowhere in sight. I ran in the first open stall and waited.

The feeling of being alone overwhelmed me. Missing the Harpers right now, especially Blake, was almost unbearable. Now, more than ever, I questioned the council and their reasons for sending me back without them. I couldn’t understand why they did this to me.

My goal in coming here was to find a way to contact the council in order to get back to the Harpers, but now my plan was pure survival. Before I figured out who this guy was and what he wanted from me, I wanted to stay away and protect the people I loved from any harm, too.

As I sat there, the reality of my life continued to hit me hard, it seemed like I was destined to be alone. Maybe I should send myself to the Sahara Desert or Antarctica, not allowing myself to put anyone else in danger. I was beginning to understand my mother’s reasons for leaving this life of magic. It was easy to see why she would want a normal life without all the worry. The power that I was born with began to feel like more of a curse.

About twenty minutes passed with no sounds other than toilets flushing and women chatting. I opened the stall door, walked over to the exit, and peeked my head out into the busy terminal. There was no sign of Collin, so I made my move. As my eyes swept the room, I was constantly aware of the people that surrounded me. With all that had happened this morning, along with knowing that Collin was probably still in the vicinity, my awareness was on high alert.

A few more steps closer to the exit, I made another sweep to my right and then to my left. Just when I thought there was nothing out of the ordinary, a familiar face caught my eye, causing me to stop dead in my tracks. He was walking just a few feet from me, looking around the busy station in the same way that I was. My breath stopped and my body tingled from my head to my toes. How could he be here? It couldn’t be. Is the desperation of wanting him to be here causing me to hallucinate? It couldn’t actually be who I wanted it to be, could it? My body moved forward, slowly at first, never taking my eyes off him. A part of me was saying this wasn’t happening, to keep to my original plan and go towards the exit. The other part of me felt like a magnet, pulling me right towards him, wanting it to be him more than I wanted anything ever before. I blinked, once... twice... and a third time. The vision of him didn’t disappear and I could feel my heart and breathing pick up speed. He was there, just twenty or so feet in front of me. Instinct took over and I began to yell louder than I had in my entire life.

“Blake!” I shouted as loud as humanly possible. “Blake, back here! I’m right here!”

The vision of the man I would’ve sworn was Blake, eventually faded into the crowds. My body pushed its way through the mass of people; not bothering to say
excuse me
or
I’m sorry
and ignoring the scoffs directed towards me because even though I could no longer see him, I wouldn’t give up the hope of finding him. Finally, I broke through the last few people and stumbled into a large, less crowded area and there he was, ten feet from me, facing and staring directly into my eyes. Just the sight of him looking at me and him actually being there, froze me where I stood. It seemed like minutes passed as we stood there, staring at one another, but in reality, it was probably just a few seconds.

After all the nights I wished for him to be there—and now, when I felt like I needed him the most—he was standing just a few feet away from me. You would think that my initial instinct would be to run to him, to wrap my arms around him, kiss him, tell him that I missed him and how thankful I was that he was there. However, for some reason, I couldn’t move. Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was fear. Fear that if I moved, the image of him would disappear; that this would turn out to be a cruel dream. From the look on his face, it seemed he had the same thoughts as me. I took a step forward and prayed this was not just some crazy vision coming to haunt me. Blake mirrored each step I took until we were just inches apart. Slowly, he raised his hand, almost afraid to touch me. Finally, his hand grazed my cheek and I trembled from his touch.

“I was afraid I would never see you again,” I whispered as I closed my eyes, trying to savor the touch of his hand on my skin.

“I can’t believe it’s really you. After searching for you for so long, you’re right here.” He caressed my cheek as he spoke.

After realizing that I wasn’t just an illusion that would disappear when he touched me, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. “I’m so glad I found you again. I promised you that if we were ever separated that I would find you, but there were times when I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep my promise. We’ve all missed you so much.” He sighed heavily. “I only wish Abby was here to see it.”

“Abby,” I breathed. “Where is she? I’ve missed her so much.”

He didn’t answer my question and his silence made me curious. Pulling back, I looked up at him, an eerie feeling passing through me. I noticed now, for the first time, that his eyes looked heavy and sad. “What is it, Blake?” For a moment he didn’t answer my question, his expression remained blank. “Blake?” I asked more urgently.

“Meredith.” He paused for a moment. “Abby’s... missing.”

“Missing?” I questioned. My sudden injection of happiness had disappeared and was now replaced with an overwhelming sense of panic. “What do you mean, missing?”

He took in a deep breath. “She disappeared a couple days after you did. The morning she found out you were gone, she was devastated. She didn’t sleep, eat, or do anything that wasn’t related to finding you. One morning she left saying that she wasn’t coming back without you,” he paused, exhaling loudly, “but she never returned. We searched for her, performed a tracer spell on her, but found nothing. It was as if the two of you vanished into thin air. We had hoped she found you, that if nothing else, you two were together. When days passed and we didn’t hear from either one of you, we began to fear the worst.”

My heart ached knowing that Abby was lost out there, somewhere, and it was all because she was searching for me. “But what—what could’ve happened to her?” My voice fell with each word. Then, a dreadful image popped into my head. The man that I had seen this morning... the same man I had seen back in 1905. If he
had
been there searching for me that day, after our training in Steep Swamp, then he saw Abby, too. Maybe he knew something about her disappearance, or even worse, maybe he took her. “It has to mean something,” I mumbled to myself.

“What?” Blake asked.

“The man I saw this morning...” my voice trailed off, an uneasy feeling passing through me.

“Man? What man?” Blake’s voice was full of concern. He gently grabbed the sides of my face, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “Tell me, Meredith. What man?”

I hesitated for a moment, still trying to process it all.

“Meredith.” Blake’s voice was firm.

“Back in 1905... Abby and I were walking home and I felt something strange. I tried to ignore it, told myself that I was just being paranoid, but the feeling, it just wouldn’t go away. Then I felt a presence behind us. I saw his face for a split second... and his grey eyes. By the time I asked Abby about him, he’d disappeared. It was all my fault. I practically begged her to keep it between the two of us. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Meredith, you’re not making sense. You said, ‘the man you saw this morning’.”

“The same... it’s the same man,” I mumbled, looking into his eyes.

His eyes grew wide, realizing what I had just said.

“Let’s go.” I took Blake’s hand in mine and began dragging him out of the train station. “We need to get this information to Collin. Maybe he can help us.” With Blake by my side, I felt safe approaching Collin with the truth—even if I wasn’t completely sure that we could trust him yet.

“Collin?” Blake questioned.

“I’ll explain everything on the way,” I mumbled, pulling him forward.

We could’ve flown to Collin’s house, but I wanted to take my time and tell Blake everything. I started with the dream of my mother, then why I was here in London, and how Collin had been training me. I told him everything about the weirdness this morning and how I had run from Collin and was planning to leave town just before I found him in the train station.

It seemed crazy to think that it had just been a week since we last saw each other; everything that had happened made it seem like so much longer. As we approached the house with the rooster mailbox, I knocked on the door with my right hand and held tightly to Blake with my left. I glanced over at him, still not believing that he was here, in the flesh, and not just some figment of my imagination. It seemed too good to be true.
How did he get here?
I wondered. I’d been so busy catching him up on what had happened with me that I didn’t even get the chance to ask him.

The front door opened and Collin stood there, giving me a killer glare. “Meredith.” His voice was cold and distant.

“Hi, Collin.” I smiled timidly.

Collin stood there staring between the two of us, his eyes finally resting on mine. “That was some stunt you pulled. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

“I’m really sorry about that. It’s just that I needed to get away for a minute. I didn’t want to put you in any danger.”

Collin’s dark brows pulled together. “Danger?”

“Yes, it’s difficult for me to explain, but I will try, if you’ll let me.”

“Who’s your friend?” Collin asked, looking over and assessing Blake.

Blake held out his hand to Collin. “I’m Blake. Meredith has told me a lot about you.”

Collin didn’t move for a moment, but finally he extended his hand to meet Blake’s. “Collin,” he said with a flat voice.

“Collin, can we talk?” I asked, hoping that he would hear me out and let me explain.

“Well, I was actually heading out. My dad left me a note, something about an emergency meeting.”

“Meeting?” I questioned.

“Yeah, his note said that he and Jackie were going there together and that you and I should meet them as soon as possible.”

“Do you still think that Jackie has something to do with what happened this morning?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not sure, but I still feel like something strange is going on. I need to find my dad and talk to him, so I’m going to head over to Jude’s now... you can come,” he glanced between Blake and I, “or not.”

“Jude?” I questioned. The name sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yeah, the meeting’s at his house.”

I gulped loudly. I wasn’t sure why, but just hearing his name made my skin crawl. I knew I’d heard that name before. Where had I heard that name? I searched my memories and then it hit me, hard. I’d heard his name that morning. When I’d woken up and heard the voices. I swore I heard Jackie addressing someone by the name of Jude.

“What is it, Meredith?” Blake asked.

I glanced up to him, trying to hide the fear I knew my face was showing. “Jude... I think he’s the man I saw this morning and in 1905.”

“What?” Collin questioned. “What’s going on, Meredith?”

I looked away from Blake and back to Collin. “Please, just let us come in and I’ll explain everything.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Collin looked annoyed, but he opened the door wider, allowing us in anyway. Even though I had Blake with me now, I was still reeling from the fact that Abby was missing and I was determined to find out what happened to her. Since Jude seemed to be a common denominator in all of this, he was the number one person I wanted to find and see what he knew.

Collin sat down with a stone face as I explained the truth about everything. How it was just a few months ago that I’d discovered I was a witch—an Astoria to be exact—and how the council had sent the Harpers to protect me and then sent me back to 1905 in order to save them. I told him about the real reason behind my trip to London, how Blake had appeared here this morning and that Abby, Blake’s sister, was missing.

When I was finished with my explanation, he sunk back into the couch, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me. You didn’t trust me?”

“I’d just met you,” I said. “I didn’t think leading with all this information was smart.”

 “I guess you’re right.” He exhaled loudly. “I knew you were something special, but an Astoria. Wow, gotta say, that is pretty cool.”

After everything I’d just told him, the only thing he could concentrate on was me being an Astoria? What about Abby missing? What about Jude—and how I’d seen him back in 1905 and then, again, this morning?